League One basement side Burton Albion will travel to the Lamex Stadium for Saturday's League One encounter against Stevenage.
The hosts are looking to claim their first win of 2025, while Burton are looking to record a victory for the first time since December 4.
Match preview
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Stevenage will head into Saturday's fixture in 13th position after winning eight, drawing seven and losing eight of their 23 league matches.
Alex Revell's side have experienced an underwhelming start to 2025, having played out consecutive goalless draws against Northampton Town and Lincoln City since they finished the previous calendar year with a 3-0 victory over
While they may have been frustrated with those two results, Stevenage will take confidence from the fact they have proven to be a tough nut to crack at the opposite end of the pitch, having kept clean sheets in four of their last five matches.
After playing back-to-back away games, Stevenage will now return to the Lamex Stadium, where they have won three of their previous four home league matches.
The Boro have won six of their last nine competitive meetings with Burton, including a commanding 4-0 away victory when the two teams last faced off in December's EFL Trophy clash.
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Burton boss Gary Bowyer has been unable to spark an upturn in fortunes since he took over the reins at the Pirelli Stadium in the middle of December.
Bowyer began his tenure with consecutive defeats, before he saw his side give up leads to draw back-to-back matches against Huddersfield Town and Peterborough.
Unfortunately for Bowyer, his team were unable to take anything from last Saturday's home clash against Northampton Town, conceding in the 86th minute in a narrow 1-0 defeat.
Having mustered just 14 matches from 24 matches, the Brewers are languishing at the bottom of the table, leaving them 11 points adrift from safety and staring down the barrel of relegation to League Two.
If they are to mount an escape bid, Burton need to embark on a positive spell of results sooner rather than later, and they will hope they can start such a run in Saturday's fixture, as they look to replicate the 2-1 victory they recorded in their most recent trip to the Lamex Stadium in April 2024.
Team News
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Stevenage will not be able to call upon Aaron Pressley, who has joined League Two Barrow on loan for the remainder of the season.
Daniel Phillips, Daniel Kemp and Elliot List are pushing for recalls after dropping to the bench for the draw with Lincoln.
Jamie Reid is also in contention to return to the starting lineup, with the striker looking to add to the four goals he has scored this season.
As for the visitors, they are expected to be without the midfield duo of Ciaran Gilligan and Alex Bannon.
Ex-Stevenage defender Terence Vancooten has completed his two-match ban and is now in contention to start against his former club.
Owen Dodgson could be given the chance to make his Burton debut after recently arriving on loan from Championship side Burnley.
Stevenage possible starting lineup:
Cooper; Wildin, N. Thompson, Piergianni, Smith; L. Thompson, Phillips; Roberts, Kemp, List; Reid
Burton Albion possible starting lineup:
Crocombe; Vancooten, Sweeney, Armer; Godwin-Malife, Chauke, Watt, Webster, Dodgson; Burrell, Orsi
We say: Stevenage 2-1 Burton Albion
Stevenage have won three of their last four matches at the Lamex Stadium, and we think they will make full use of home advantage again to claim a narrow victory over a Burton side that are low on confidence following an eight-game winless run.
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